Moony's Speciality
by Carnivalgirl
Summary: Remus worries Tonks is too busy to celebrate her birthday, so comes up with an original idea for a present. Naturally, there is chocolate involved. RLNT one-shot.


**A/N:** Remus and Tonks and chocolate = OT3! This was written for **Don'tCallMeNymphadora4**'s birthday a few months ago. I hope you enjoy!

**Moony's Speciality**

One of the things Remus loved about Tonks was the way she went through life almost free of stress and disappointment. True, she was young, and she always said her life was easy compared to his, but she was a relatively new Auror, on the front line of an impending war that most around her were in denial about. There could be nothing easy about that. Yet she always had a smile on her face, her cheeks were plump and rosy and she laughed loudly even at the smallest things.

He was happy to have a role in her busy life, even more so when he noticed that role was getting more important all the time. The second time they met, he made her some hot chocolate from a magic recipe he had invented himself, at the tender age of thirteen. The top layer of the drink was a sweet white chocolate, which in a few gulps would smoothly change to rich dark chocolate. He'd made the first version out of cheap chocolate from the local supermarket, but that hadn't stopped her from going into raptures about it.

"This is…amazing!" she had said. "It's the best hot chocolate I've ever had. Could I get another mug, do you think?"

"Not a chance!" Sirius had said, raising his own to her. "This is the Moony's Speciality. I'm not going to let some newbie take it away from me."

"_The _Moony's Speciality? Sounds official."

"It was, for a time," Remus had said. "My mother sold them in her café. Went down a treat. Since that closed down though, it's been a treat exclusively for myself…and my friends."

She had smiled very sweetly, with white and brown chocolate stains at the corners of her thin pink lips. "I knew as soon as I met you that I wanted to be your friend. Glad to know my instincts had it right."

Though Tonks had been slightly addicted to the Moony's Speciality at first, she sensed that it was expensive for Remus to make, and that perhaps he wanted to be more than just someone who made her hot chocolate. So the hot chocolate soon became coffees at lunch time (she brought them during her lunch break in from the Muggle cafés in cardboard things like egg boxes. She always got him fancy ones with Italian names he didn't really know the meaning of) and tea at night after Order meetings. Everyone would go home and they'd sit on the sofa in the parlour of that draughty house with a quilt wrapped around them and talk for hours. She would be happy to give her opinion on any book or poem, any big philosophical question or petty gossip, but very rarely did she talk about her work.

"I admire you, you know," he said, once, when she had skirted around yet another 'How was your day?' "Taking on all this responsibility, confronting things other women your age don't even have nightmares about and still smiling and looking lovely. It really is remarkable."

"It's what I've always wanted," she said. "Ever since I was sixteen and I read about…about James and Lily Potter."

She said this tentatively, as if she thought he would be offended at her mentioning his late friends. On the contrary, he smiled.

"I think they've inspired a lot of people to want to be heroes, but since you're actually going to be one, they would be especially proud of you."

She shrugged, but blushed at the compliment. "I'm not sure if you can call yourself a hero if you keep going back for more. I think after a while you're just crazy."

"It's worth it, though."

"Yeah. Sometimes."

Her birthday was at the end of November, but she didn't make any plans, or if she did, she didn't share them with him. In fact, she didn't even mention it was her birthday, he only found out from Sirius, who fondly remembered getting a picture of his new baby cousin in a Christmas card in 1973.

"Funny how she hasn't mentioned it," Molly said, that same evening. "We could have a nice little party here, with cake and…"

"Booze?" Sirius suggested.

"A bit, maybe," she said, irritably.

"Yes, but Molly," Arthur said. "Young people of Tonks's age don't want to party with a bunch of fuddy-duddies like us...before you shout at me, you probably wouldn't like their parties either. Once Charlie got past eleven or so, he wanted to be with his friends, and only his friends, and the same is probably the case for Tonks."

"But Tonks is our friend! At the very least we should get her a present."

Remus started. "Merlin! I've got to get her a present! Oh…it's so near Christmas as well…"

"I know how you feel, dear," Molly said. "Bill's birthday is right at the end of November too, and it's hard to stretch the money sometimes."

"He only gets five Galleons a week, poor sod," Sirius said. "We could get a present together, like that book set we're getting for Harry."

"Tonks is different," Remus said. "I think I should give her a present alone."

He said this very easily, but he wasn't quite sure why she was different. She was his friend and he cared about her, but he cared about Harry too, and didn't mind getting_ him_ a joint present. Maybe it was a different kind of caring. With Harry, after all, he felt a responsibility. However quickly he was growing up, he was James and Lily's child, and he and Sirius had a joint responsibility to make sure he was alright. But Tonks didn't need a mentor in her life. She might look up to him occasionally, but more in the way of a partnership. She didn't need a boost from him.

Also, he wanted to compliment her. He wasn't going to tell anyone that.

He decided he wanted to make the gift personal. Giving her scented candles or flowers just didn't suit her or their friendship. He couldn't spend a lot of money, but he wanted to give her something of quality, something that cost money or effort.

Then it occurred to him, so naturally that he immediately knew it was the perfect gift. If she was too busy to come for a Moony's Speciality, the Moony's Speciality could come to her. He'd make her a jar of it – with a little magic effort.

She had to have the best ingredients, and they weren't easy to find, especially since he wanted a large quantity. Honeydukes did some of the best, but it didn't suit his purpose. Fortunately, while walking to Diagon Alley he stumbled into a Muggle shop which was offering free samples of their white chocolate, and it was so perfectly creamy that he bought three bars, and decided to trust their dark chocolate too. He got the confectionary sugar by owl post order, just as he always used to when he made it as a teenager.

The powder mixture was easy to make with a spell, but he had to consider how to…teach it to separate. He got as many books from the library about the art of confectionary as he could carry, and studied them all through the day and long into the night. It was a strange sight for Albus Dumbledore when he came to Grimmauld Place for a visit and saw his former employee buried in sheets of paper with detailed notes on caramelisation and powdered milk.

"Do you intend to write your next paper on the various flavours of fudge, Remus?"

"Oh! No, Albus, it's... it's a personal project."

The professor's eyes twinkled. "If you need an assistant for your research, let me know."

In the end, after several trial runs that were happily sampled by anyone who came through the door (except Tonks, of course), he finally had his product. All that was left was to package it, and he decided to cover an old tin of ordinary hot chocolate with strips of wrapping paper and glitter. He felt like a kid making a pencil pot for a relative, but that was a good feeling – she would know he had made an effort for her.

He didn't expect to see her on her birthday as it was a Friday, and he soon found out he was right. Tonks wrote to Molly the day before saying that she wouldn't be there for dinner.

_Dawlish made me sign up to do the night shift tomorrow. I then remembered you were doing your chicken and bacon pie with those salt-and-pepper potatoes, and I nearly cried. _

"The night shift," Sirius had said. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

"Knowing Tonks," Remus said. "She really _is_ doing the night shift."

"On a Friday night? On her birthday? She may have pink hair and blue nails, but she's not completely mad."

Remus looked at the red and gold tin sitting on the table, waiting for her. Perhaps it was best if it went to her instead. He created a little label as a finishing touch.

_Moony's Speciality, est. 1973. All rights reserved to Remus 'Moony' Lupin. This chocolate is the Property of Nymphadora Tonks. _

He even cast a charm on it in the vein of the Marauder's Map, so anyone who touched the tin got personally told where to go. When Fleur tried to open the tin to get a smell of the dark chocolate, the label flashed 'NE TOUCHEZ PAS!', and when Mundungus did the same, it appropriately said 'OI!'

He left her a note saying; _You can open this now if you like. Happy Birthday for tomorrow. Love_ (and this was hard to write, but 'From' didn't sound right) _Remus, _and gave the final package to his owl in the manner of unloading a precious treasure.

"Godspeed!" he called out, as the bird flew away into the night. He felt as if Tonks were a famous adventurer away at sea, and he, the spouse at home, was sending her a token of remembrance.

He went to his room and heard nothing for an hour or so, when suddenly there was a crash as the troll-foot umbrella stand fell over and Mrs Black went off again.

"Damn, damn, damn!" said a voice from downstairs. It was Tonks.

It was obvious she was here to see him, and he raced downstairs in the pretence of seeing to Mrs Black, but Tonks had her arms around him as soon as she could reach.

"You have no idea how happy you've made me," she said. "Would you believe I actually forgot my birthday?"

He laughed. "We thought you were out partying, and didn't want to hang out with us fuddy-duddies."

She ran her hand through his hair. "There's nothing fuddy or duddy about a man who gives a woman homemade luxury chocolate for her birthday. Remus, I think I love you."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and then said "I've brought the chocolate. What do you say to going and getting your blanket from upstairs and curling up on the sofa?"

Within ten minutes they were there, steaming mugs of Moony's Speciality in their hands even though the label had a go at Remus (YOU should know better, Moony!), and they were still there when the clock struck midnight.

"Happy Birthday," he said.

She kissed him again, but this time it was fully on the lips. She tasted a little of chocolate, but he didn't notice, he was so surprised and delighted.

"I think on reflection kissing you on the cheek wasn't enough," she said. "It's enough for a friend, or someone who just gives me hot chocolate, but I think you're worth more than that."

"I hope your instincts are right," he said, and chinked his mug against hers.


End file.
